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Two Canadian entries make list of top 50 influential TV shows

Two Canadian shows — The Kids of DeGrassi and Murdoch Mysteries — have made the top 50 The Wit’s list of influential television programming.

But the list compiled by the Swiss-based company, which specializes in research and information on television, has a gaping hole. Because the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) refused to allow clips of its shows to be used, the list does not include any entries from the venerable broadcaster, affectionately known in the U.K. as “the Beeb” or “Auntie.”

Virginia Mouseler, co-founder of The Wit, told themail.online there were two criteria for the shows on the list.

“First, we included shows that had a huge impact around the world by being distributed to different countries. Secondly, we picked shows that may be less well known internationally but that had a big impact in their own country,” Mouseler said.

The top 50 list, which goes by year, was compiled on behalf of MIPTV, which recently held its semi-annual conference on television. The association is celebrating its 50th year.

Mouseler said the association, which represents buyers and sellers of television programming world-wide, were canvassed and asked to name television shows that influenced them during their youth. At least 15,000 people attended the recent convention in Cannes, France, which ended April 10.

The first entry on the list for 1963, with Astro Boy from Japan.

Coronation Street, which airs on the U.K.’s ITV network — and the longest-running soap opera in television history — is listed for 1970, the year it topped the ratings in that country (despite the fact the series debuted in 1960).

The Kids of DeGrassi Street — which has spawned a number of incarnations, including DeGrassi Junior High, DeGrassi High and DeGrassi: The Next Generation (re-named, simply, DeGrassi for the 10th season) debuted in 1979. The Wit noted the series has been exported to 140 countries.

The entry for Murdoch Mysteries, under 2008, notes the series has been exported to 100 countries and “sparked the trend for Victoria crime period dramas such as Whitechapel.”